JOURNAL OF FOOD AGRICULTURE & ENVIRONMENT, cilt.9, sa.2, ss.636-640, 2011 (SCI-Expanded)
The current operational practices in municipal solid waste landfills negatively impact environment due to uncontrolled land filling and other problems associated with solid waste disposal in developing countries. "Cover soil" application helps to control waste dispersion, release of gases and unattractive smell from landfills. One of the most important questions that occupy city officials is how to utilize landfill area after the completion of land filling. The problem may be more serious in Mediterranean cities due to high land prices caused by touristic activities. For example, landfill site of Antalya City is located in a forest ecosystem. Since forest ecosystems are more sensitive to environmental changes, the impact of Antalya City landfill is likely to be more severe on this ecosystem. The present study consisted of three steps. The first step was to collect detailed information of Antalya Kizilli Landfill site and surrounding environment. The second step was to investigate management status of landfill sites in local, national and international platforms. The last step was to determine the holistic approaches in the case of Antalya Kizilli Landfill site for rehabilitation efforts with a SWOT analysis. This paper evaluates some state agencies and organizations such as city municipalities, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, local forest institutes, related departments in universities, nongovernmental organizations and public stakeholders and their efforts on rehabilitation of solid waste landfill sites. The landfill management model proposed in this study for Antalya City could also be applied to cities that have similar facilities in the Mediterranean region.